2Chr 20
1
And after this came the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them
some of the Minaeans, against Josaphat to battle.
2
And they came and told Josaphat, saying, There is come against you a great multitude
from Syria, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Asasan Thamar, this is Engadi.
3
And Josaphat was alarmed, and set his face to seek the Lord earnestly, and he proclaimed
a fast in all Juda.
4
And Juda gathered themselves together to seek after the Lord: even from all the cities
of Juda they came to seek the Lord.
5
And Josaphat stood up in the assembly of Juda in Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord,
in front of the new court.
6
And he said, O Lord God of my fathers, art not you God in heaven above, and art not
you Lord of all the kingdoms of the nations? and is there not in your hand the might
of dominion, and there is no one who can resist you?
7
Art not you the Lord that did destroy the inhabitants of this land before the face
of your people Israel, and did give it to your beloved seed of Abraham for ever?
8
And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to your name, saying,
9
If there should come upon us evils, sword, judgement, pestilence, famine, we will
stand before this house, and before you, (for your name is upon this house,) and we
will cry to you because of the affliction, and you shall hear, and deliver.
10
And now, behold, the children of Ammon, and Moab, and mount Seir, with regard to whom
you did not permit Israel to pass through Gr. them their border, when they had come out of the land of Egypt, (for they turned
away
from them, and did not destroy them;) —
11
yet now, behold, they make attempts against us, to come forth to cast us out from
our inheritance which you gave us.
12
O Lord our God, will you not judge them? for we have no strength to resist this great
multitude that is come against us; and we know not what we shall do to them: but our
eyes are toward you.
13
And all Juda was standing before the Lord, and their children, and their wives.
14
And Oziel the son of Zacharias, of the children of Banaias, of the sons of Eleiel,
the sons of Matthanias the Levite, of the sons of Asaph, —upon him came the Spirit
of the Lord in the assembly:
15
and he said, Hear you, all Juda, and the dwellers in Jerusalem, and king Josaphat:
Thus says the Lord to Gr. you yourselves you, even you, Fear not, neither be alarmed, before all this great multitude; for
the battle is not years, but God’s.
16
To-morrow go you down against them: behold, they come up by the ascent of Assis, and
you shall find them at the extremity of the river of the wilderness of Jeriel.
17
It is not for you to fight: understand these things, and see the deliverance of the
Lord with you, Juda and Jerusalem: fear not, neither be afraid to go forth to-morrow
to meet them; and the Lord shall be with you.
18
And Josaphat bowed with his face to the ground with all Juda and the dwellers in Jerusalem,
and they fell before the Lord to worship the Lord.
19
And the Levites of the children of Caath, and they of the sons of Core, rose up to
praise the Lord God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20
And they rose early in the morning and went out to the wilderness of Thecoe: and as
they went out, Josaphat stood and cried, and said, Hear me, Juda, and the dwellers
in Jerusalem; put your trust in the Lord God, and Gr. you shall be trusted your trust shall be honored; trust in his prophet,
and you shall prosper.
21
And he took counsel with the people, and set appointed men to sing psalms and praises,
to give thanks, and Gr. praise the holy things sing the holy songs of praise in going forth before the host: and they said,
Give
thanks to the Lord, for his mercy endures for ever.
22
And when they began the praise and thanksgiving, the Lord caused the children of Ammon
to fight against Moab, and the inhabitants of mount Seir that came out against Juda;
and they were routed.
23
Then the children of Ammon and Moab rose up against the dwellers in mount Seir, to
destroy and consume them; and when they had made an end of destroying the inhabitants
of Seir, they rose up against one another so that they were utterly destroyed.
24
And Juda came to the watch-tower of the wilderness, and looked, and saw the multitude,
and, behold, they were all fallen dead upon the earth, not one escaped.
25
And Josaphat and his people went out to spoil them, and they found much cattle, and
furniture, and spoils, and precious things: and they spoiled them, and they were three
days gathering the spoil, for it was abundant.
26
And it came to pass on the fourth day they were gathered to the Valley of Or, Berachah Blessing; for there they blessed the
Lord: therefore they called the name of the
place the Valley of Blessing, until this day.
27
And Gr. every man all the men of Juda returned to Jerusalem, and Josaphat led them with great joy;
for the Lord gave them joy Gr. from over their enemies.
28
And they entered into Jerusalem with lutes and harps and trumpets, going into the
house of the lord.
29
And there was a terror of the Lord upon all the kingdoms of the land, when they heard
that the Lord fought against the enemies of Israel.
30
And the kingdom of Josaphat was at peace; and his God gave him rest round about.
31
And Josaphat reigned over Juda, being thirty-five years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem: and his mother’s name was Azuba, daughter
of Sali.
32
And he walked in the ways of his father Asa, and turned not aside from doing that
which was right in the sight of the Lord.
33
nevertheless the high places yet remained; and as yet the people did not direct their
heart to the Lord God of their fathers.
34
And the rest of the acts of Josaphat, the first and the last, behold, they are written
in the history of Jeu the son of Anani, who wrote the book of the kings of Israel.
35
And afterwards Josaphat king of Juda entered into an alliance with Ochozias king of
Israel, (now this was an unrighteous man,)
36
by acting with and going to him, to build ships to go to Tharsis: and he built ships
in Gasion Gaber.
37
And Eliezer the son of Dodia of Marisa prophesied against Josaphat, saying, Seeing
that as you have allied yourself with Ochozias, the Lord has broken your work, and
your vessels have been wrecked. And they could not go to Tharsis.